scholarly journals Response of Temperate Forest Ecosystems under Decreased Nitrogen Deposition: Research Challenges and Opportunities

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 509
Author(s):  
Frank S. Gilliam

Although past increases in emissions and atmospheric deposition of reactive nitrogen (Nr) provided the impetus for extensive research investigating the effects of excess N in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the Clean Air Act and associated rules have led to decreases in emissions and deposition of oxidized N, especially in the eastern U.S., but also in other regions of the world. Thus, research in the near future must address the mechanisms and processes of recovery for impacted forests as they experience chronically less N in atmospheric depositions. Recently, a hysteretic model was proposed to predict this recovery. By definition, hysteresis is any phenomenon in which the state of a property depends on its history and lags behind changes in the effect causing it. Long-term whole-watershed additions of N at the Fernow Experimental Forest allow for tests of the ascending limb of the hysteretic model and provide an opportunity to assess the projected changes following cessation of these additions. A review of 10 studies published in the peer-reviewed literature indicate there was a lag time of 3–6 years before responses to N treatments became apparent. Consistent with the model, I predict significant lag times for recovery of this temperate hardwood ecosystem following decreases in N deposition.

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Chaum

New Zealand’s cultural, social and economic prospects are inextricably intertwined with the health and sustenance of our natural capital. New Zealand is wealthy in natural resources. We have plentiful, clean water; clean air; fertile soil and a climate well suited to humans, trees, livestock and agriculture; long coastlines and significant aquaculture resources; significant mineral and petroleum reserves; and extraordinary biodiversity on our land and in our water bodies. The World Bank estimates that New Zealand ranks eighth out of 120 countries and second out of OECD countries in natural capital per capita; we are outranked only by petroleum exporting countries (World Bank, 2011). While it is still substantial, natural capital in New Zealand has been reduced since the arrival of humans, however, including losses to our lowland forest and reductions in native biodiversity. 


Author(s):  
Wim W. Wessel ◽  
Andries W. Boxman ◽  
Chiara Cerli ◽  
E. Emiel van Loon ◽  
Albert Tietema

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 525-537
Author(s):  
Vladimír Ira ◽  
René Matlovič

n the long-term development of human geography we can observe a tendency to combine ideas from an intradisciplinary debate and those imported from outside the discipline. It is profoundly influenced by a number of impulses from the rapidly changing world. This paper provides a brief survey of challenges for human geography setting them within the context of paradigmatic development and economic, social, cultural, environmental, political, and technological changes. It briefly focuses on the debates of human geographers what their discipline could or should study in the near future and how it could be done. Part of the paper is devoted to a few reflections of authors from the Visegrad Four countries concentrating attention to further direction of human geography. Human geography is unlikely to be characterised by a mono-paradigm dominance in the next few decades, but a discussion on how to find a common base for the integration of paradigms in geography is likely to continue. Changing hierarchical structures, significant modernization processes, as well as local, regional and global changes influencing space-time behavioural patterns of humans can be expected among the main sources of inspiration for the human geographic research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Murat Yucesahin ◽  
Ibrahim Sirkeci

Syrian crisis resulted in at least 6.1 million externally displaced people 983,876 of whom are in Europe while the rest are in neighbouring countries in the region. Turkey, due to its geographical proximity and substantial land borders with the country, has been the most popular destination for those fleeing Syria since April 2011. Especially after 2012, a sharp increase in the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Turkey was witnessed. This has triggered an exponential growth in academic and public interest in Syrian population. Numerous reports mostly based on non-representative sample surveys have been disseminated whilst authoritative robust analyses remained absent. This study aims to fill this gap by offering a comprehensive demographic analysis of the Syrian population. We focus on the demographic differences (from 1950s to 2015) and demographic trends (from 2015 to 2100) in medium to long term, based on data from World Population Prospects (WPP). We offer a comparative picture to underline potential changes and convergences between populations in Syria, Turkey, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We frame our discussion here with reference to the demographic transition theory to help understanding the implications for movers and non-movers in receiving countries in the near future.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 734
Author(s):  
Xiankai Lu ◽  
Qinggong Mao ◽  
Zhuohang Wang ◽  
Taiki Mori ◽  
Jiangming Mo ◽  
...  

Anthropogenic elevated nitrogen (N) deposition has an accelerated terrestrial N cycle, shaping soil carbon dynamics and storage through altering soil organic carbon mineralization processes. However, it remains unclear how long-term high N deposition affects soil carbon mineralization in tropical forests. To address this question, we established a long-term N deposition experiment in an N-rich lowland tropical forest of Southern China with N additions such as NH4NO3 of 0 (Control), 50 (Low-N), 100 (Medium-N) and 150 (High-N) kg N ha−1 yr−1, and laboratory incubation experiment, used to explore the response of soil carbon mineralization to the N additions therein. The results showed that 15 years of N additions significantly decreased soil carbon mineralization rates. During the incubation period from the 14th day to 56th day, the average decreases in soil CO2 emission rates were 18%, 33% and 47% in the low-N, medium-N and high-N treatments, respectively, compared with the Control. These negative effects were primarily aroused by the reduced soil microbial biomass and modified microbial functions (e.g., a decrease in bacteria relative abundance), which could be attributed to N-addition-induced soil acidification and potential phosphorus limitation in this forest. We further found that N additions greatly increased soil-dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and there were significantly negative relationships between microbial biomass and soil DOC, indicating that microbial consumption on soil-soluble carbon pool may decrease. These results suggests that long-term N deposition can increase soil carbon stability and benefit carbon sequestration through decreased carbon mineralization in N-rich tropical forests. This study can help us understand how microbes control soil carbon cycling and carbon sink in the tropics under both elevated N deposition and carbon dioxide in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-163
Author(s):  
Yaqi Wang ◽  
Chunyang Huang ◽  
Minghong Liu ◽  
Ling Yuan

Author(s):  
Isaac Kwesi Nooni ◽  
Daniel Fiifi T. Hagan ◽  
Guojie Wang ◽  
Waheed Ullah ◽  
Jiao Lu ◽  
...  

The main goal of this study was to assess the interannual variations and spatial patterns of projected changes in simulated evapotranspiration (ET) in the 21st century over continental Africa based on the latest Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and the Representative Concentration Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5) provided by the France Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM-CM) model in the Sixth Phase of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) framework. The projected spatial and temporal changes were computed for three time slices: 2020–2039 (near future), 2040–2069 (mid-century), and 2080–2099 (end-of-the-century), relative to the baseline period (1995–2014). The results show that the spatial pattern of the projected ET was not uniform and varied across the climate region and under the SSP-RCPs scenarios. Although the trends varied, they were statistically significant for all SSP-RCPs. The SSP5-8.5 and SSP3-7.0 projected higher ET seasonality than SSP1-2.6 and SSP2-4.5. In general, we suggest the need for modelers and forecasters to pay more attention to changes in the simulated ET and their impact on extreme events. The findings provide useful information for water resources managers to develop specific measures to mitigate extreme events in the regions most affected by possible changes in the region’s climate. However, readers are advised to treat the results with caution as they are based on a single GCM model. Further research on multi-model ensembles (as more models’ outputs become available) and possible key drivers may provide additional information on CMIP6 ET projections in the region.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Nio ◽  
Motoshi Wada ◽  
Hideyuki Sasaki ◽  
Hiromu Tanaka ◽  
Masatoshi Hashimoto ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Although cancer occurrence following surgery for biliary atresia has gradually increased, the development of cholangiocarcinoma in a native liver survivor of biliary atresia is extremely rare. Case presentation A 3-month-old female patient with the correctable type of biliary atresia underwent a cystoduodenostomy. At 16 years of age, she underwent multiple surgeries including lysis of intestinal adhesions, ileostomy, and gastrojejunostomy at another hospital. At 54 years of age, she underwent lithotomy at the porta hepatis, resection of the residual cystic bile duct with gallbladder, and hepaticojejunostomy in Roux-en-Y fashion. As she approached the age of 63, her computed tomography scan showed no liver tumors. In the following year, she developed cholangiocarcinoma at the porta hepatis and underwent chemotherapy. However, the cancer progressed, and she died before she reached the age of 64 years. Conclusions Cholangiocarcinoma is extremely rare in patients with biliary atresia. However, physicians should follow up patients with biliary atresia as closely as possible, as malignant tumors secondary to biliary atresia may increase in number in the near future because of the growing number of long-term survivors with biliary atresia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6763
Author(s):  
Yasuhiko Hotta ◽  
Tomohiro Tasaki ◽  
Ryu Koide

Since 2015, the international policy community has started to agree on international agreements with ambitious middle-term and long-term goals, highly relevant to sustainable consumption and production (SCP) such as those seen in the Paris Agreement, SDGs, and the plastic-related agreements at the G7 and G20 processes. Along with this trend, there has been growing attention given to socio-technical system change or “transition”. Policy debate is putting more focus on the need to change consumption and production patterns and deal with various ecological consequences within planetary boundaries such as decarbonization, absolute reduction in material throughput, or creation of a plastic-free society. This paper examines the expansion of the policy domain of SCP in three phases; SCP focusing on pollution control and cleaner production (SCP 1.0), SCP from the perspective of product lifecycle (SCP 2.0), and SCP focusing on systematic changes in socio-technical systems driving consumption and production (SCP 3.0). The potential impact of a wider SCP policy domain can be comparable to the historical shift in discourse related to ecological modernization theory from pollution prevention to efficiency. This emerging trend corresponds to the need for a fresh approach to policy design which can facilitate transition to sustainability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7906
Author(s):  
Nikola Medová ◽  
Lucie Macková ◽  
Jaromir Harmacek

This paper focuses on the dynamic of the recent upheaval in the tourism and hospitality sector due to the COVID-19 epidemic in Greece and Santorini island. It uses the case study of a country one-fourth of whose GDP consists of tourism. We compare the available statistical data showing the change in variables in the previous years with 2020 and look into the new challenges and opportunities posed by the drop in the numbers of visitors and flights. We focus mainly on the economic and social impact on the destination and possible future scenarios for further development in the area. Data show a significant effect of the pandemic on multiple variables, such as the long-term trend of the importance of tourism sector in GDP in Greece, the number of flights and visitors to Greece and Santorini island, and the contribution of tourism and travel to GDP. Based on the available data, we also construct three foresight scenarios that describe the possible futures for Santorini island in terms of the pandemic evolution. These scenarios may help various stakeholders and policymakers to be better prepared for different developments that may appear.


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